White hair, pink eyes, wavy hair, a handsome face, and a lovely appearance. It seemed like anyone who saw her had no choice but to fall in love with her. That loveliness was proof that she was Estelle’s biological mother. Estelle truly resembled Titania. But the reason Reina was surprised was not because her appearance was more beautiful than expected.
This was because in that dream, it was Titania who had said something questionable to her.
“Why is this person…?”
Reina’s eyes widened. And she stretched out her calloused hand towards the portrait, as if possessed by something. The moment Reina’s hand touched her portrait, all the textures of her air were clearly felt, as if time had stopped. It was as if the woman in the portrait, Titania, Duchess of Winternight, was looking at Reina. Only then did she realize what she was doing, and Reina hastily removed her hand from the portrait, as if it had been burned. A very fleeting moment. The huge portrait was torn wide open as if it had been cut by a sharp knife. It seemed like someone had used magic.
Reina took a deep breath and looked at the portrait.
‘W-what’s going on?’
It was a sudden thing. The portrait would not be torn just by touching it. Was it originally torn? No, that wasn’t it. There is no way they would have been so lax in her restoration.
‘Is this possible?’
Reina decided to call the boss of her house to ask for her help. Whether this was Reina’s fault or not, this portrait couldn’t be left as was.
“…Such.”
The moment Reina turned her body to report this, her deep voice was heard. Behind her, near the warehouse door, Count Embron was grinning.
“How dare you tear up the portrait of the Duchess of Winternight? There is nothing like a mouse with its liver sticking out of its stomach.”
“Oh, no, Count. Let me explain this…”
“How can you speak on the topic of maids without permission?”
Count Embron struck the floor hard with the cane he was holding. Reina shrugged her shoulders and lowered her head due to her intimidation. She said he spoke in a voice laced with arsenic.
“Ah, Your Excellency cherishes it… Were you the maid of that rumor? I guess that’s why.”
“…”
“I said something was strange. Okay, now I know everything.”
Reina lowered her head and couldn’t say anything.
“You are a commoner, but you are aiming for the position of duchess. In fact, Your Excellency has taken even the lowly Finecke clan to be your wife.”
“…That, that!”
That really wasn’t it. Reina lifted her head to make her rebuttal. But the count didn’t care. Reina read her true intentions in his eyes.
“You don’t even want to listen to me. Was this all planned?”
The reason Count Embron came to the Dukedom itself was not for education. He was trying to gain power by becoming Estelle’s spiritual leader. And the biggest obstacle to his plans was Reina. No matter how much he brainwashes Estelle now, as long as Reina exists, it would become an obstacle at some point. Count Embron was planning to somehow break Estelle and Reina’s trust by cutting them off while Damian was away.
‘Then Anne-Marie coming into this warehouse was all stupid.’
This whole situation was strange, everyone was taking Count Embron’s side, and all the strange phenomena that were happening to him were all unrealistic, so he let his guard down. At that time, Count Embron paused for a moment, looking at the photos scattered on the floor.
“Ah.”
The moment Reina noticed the gap, Count Embron turned around, raising the corners of his mouth in an unpleasant way.
“Miss, look at this. This is the truth about the common woman you relied on.”
“Ah, lady!”
Estelle, with a pale complexion, looked at Reina.
“Look at this! That girl thought she could take the position of the Duchess and tried to take advantage of you. She tried to use that photo to brainwash you!”
Count Embron recited what he had tried to do as if it were Reina’s crime. A photo of Fineke looking terrible. He tried to use that photo to scare Estelle and tell her that she would end up like that if she did anything wrong.
“Oh, no!”
“Is there any evidence? I think all you have to do is insist that it’s nothing.”
“Babe! I really didn’t do anything!”
The portrait was greatly torn, but there were no tools available to tear it. There was no evidence to say that Reina cleaned it up or hid it. Reina was unable to hide her embarrassment and only then did she look around her.
‘Sophia’
Sofia was also standing here, but she was ignoring Raina. When Count Embron motioned for her, two servants waiting behind her grabbed Reina’s arms and dragged her away.
“Miss! No! I’m not!”
Reina shouted in a loud voice. The voice was so loud and sorrowful that even the servants downstairs could hear it. Estelle turned away from Reina with a scared look on her face. The child didn’t really believe that Raina did that, but he was very afraid of Count Embron. Under the pretext of coming to teach Estelle, he told her that all of her opinions were wrong. Estelle was afraid that she would give the wrong answer this time and that he would be angry.
“Re, Reina…”
As soon as Estelle softly called Reina’s name, Count Embron gave Estelle a menacing look. Estelle still shrank her small body and turned her head.
“I had long assumed that His Excellency did not care much about what was going on inside the mansion, but to see that there is no ups and downs like this. It is deplorable.”
He clicked his tongue and looked at Reina with a cold gaze. Reina screamed desperately even though she knew that no one would stand by her and she knew that not even Estelle would help her.
“Prison… That’s not it. Yes, I can just use this warehouse. I’ll wait for Judgment Day while looking at the torn portrait of the Duchess.”
“…!”
The sight of everyone in the room turning away from her, despite Reina’s near-screaming cries for help, reaffirmed the fact that she would not get help. And before she knew it, Reina was locked in her storage room, her once straight hair matted.
Clap-.
She heard the door locking. And the Count spoke from beyond.
“When you come, Your Excellency will decide what to do with you.”
“I will decide.”
Reina knew. Count Embron will kill her before then. He had plenty of time to kill before Damien returned. Her and perhaps…
“Bonnie.”
She realized that her daughter wouldn’t leave her alone either. Reina muttered Bonita’s name as if letting out her sighs.
Bonnie. Lovely Bonita.
She was innocent, she was a child who had to be her adult from that young age just because she was Reina’s daughter. She was a child whose ending was not even described in the novel.
“Bonnie!”
Reina pounded on her door, but it wouldn’t open. No matter how much she pulled or pushed, her ornate door wouldn’t budge.
‘Why.’
Was the world really this harsh? Her only crime was that she was an incompetent child.
* * *
“…Hiccup.”
Bonita was lying in the corner of the bed, wrapped in a large blanket. Originally, she was planning to go to the training ground and play with the knights. And she actually received permission from Raina. If Bonita had not received a large package of cookies from the chef, Bonita would have heard of all the fuss much later, through someone else’s mouth. Bonita looked at the deliciously baked cookies and tried to wait for Reina to come back so she could share them. This was because she would get hungry after having fun at the gym, and it seemed like she would eat the cookie by herself. If Bonita had predicted that she would be scared in such a commotion, she would have headed to the training ground. No, she would have regretted making that choice. Bonita shivered and waited for the commotion to quiet down.
She heard her mother’s voice. But no one else’s voice was heard. She heard Reina calling out to Estelle and shouting that she was innocent. A voice like a scream was heard continuously. That meant only one thing. That no one helped Reina.
Bonita curled up under the covers, but then she slowly crawled under the bed.
“Mom…”
Usually when Bonita woke up from her nightmare, Reina comforted her that everything was okay. She would say it was all a dream and there was nothing here to harm Bonita. She would say it’s okay because her mom would protect her. But now this was reality. It wasn’t a dream.
There was no Reina, Dean, or even Damian, whom she had only recently become friendly with, who cared for her. As she was holding her breath under the bed, she heard the door open. Bonita instinctively covered her mouth, suffocating her. Bonita, who astutely grasped her situation, unconsciously sensed that something bad would happen to me as well, considering her mother’s situation.
“Where is her child?”
“The Count is looking for me, so I need to catch her quickly.”
She also heard conversations about hostages and all that. The rest was too wordy for Bonita to understand. After a while, a maid with a low-pitched voice spoke.
“The kid is very interested in swords, so he might be around the training ground.”
“Didn’t you say she was a girl?”
“It’s unusual. Maybe it’s because I grew up without it.”
The adults chatted some more and then trudged outside. Bonita then let out a small breath of her own.
“…!”
At that moment, she covered the bed and lifted the beam.
“You were here as expected.”
Bonita turned to face her maid, who looked at her in horror, looking at her indifferently. She spoke again in an emotionless voice.
“If you stay here, you will be arrested. Follow me.”
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
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